Spider-Man

A new prequel novel for the upcoming Spider-Man game has been announced that should give those who read it a bit more insight on where Spider-Man and the world will be starting

There is more going on in Spider-Man than many may have thought before as the game takes place well into Peter's career as the web-slinger. This we have heard ad nauseam since we first saw the game was coming from Insomniac Games. It is not an origin story at all, but of course there had to be somewhere that this version of the character started out and led up to the action we will be seeing and experiencing on September 7th. As if you would be playing the game without knowing a single thing about Spider-Man and all of the lore from before. Just for those who may be missing out or want to know what was happening in the fictional world before the game, we can now let you know that there will be a prequel novel coming just for you.

Yes, it looks like some of the backstory of Spider-Man will be fleshed out in a novel that is being written for the game that will lead right into all of the action we will get to experience. A nice little novel that will be dropping a few weeks before the game on August 21st so you can get those details that should be placed in the game directly and not there for those who opt into the extra stuff to have. If you cannot tell, I do not think this is a great thing for Spider-Man as it seems like in the story title the team has been working on, we should be able to get it all in one place. At most, we should be slightly expected to have enjoyed the comics or other mediums that the character has been shown off in to get a fuller backstory. Maybe it is just me…

“Leading directly into the beginning of the game, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover features some of Spidey’s most famous friends and foes,” says Titan’s announcement, exclusively shared with Polygon, “including the Shocker, Echo, the Blood Spider, J. Jonah Jameson, Mary Jane Watson, and Wilson Fisk – the Kingpin.”

Written by author David Liss (The Ethical Assassin, Black Panther: The Man Without Fear), the book will reveal “Kingpin’s plan to gain an iron grip on New York City,” and establish character relationships and details that will be continued in the game.

Insomniac’s Spider-Man will also join Titan’s long line of game-based art books with Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Art of the Game, written by Paul Davies.

“Packed with never-before-seen images of Spider-Man, his costume and equipment, the Marvel version of his hometown New York, and the deadly villains he battles, fans will learn about every facet of the game, from the initial designs, blueprints, and the breathtaking final concepts,” says Titan’s announcement.

Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover will hit shelves on Aug. 21, 2018, just a few weeks before the release of the game itself on PlayStation 4 on Sept. 7. Spider-Man: The Art of the Game will follow on Sept. 11.

As it sounds here though, it looks like it will mainly be what will hopefully be a background story for Spider-Man that we will have here with this novel. It seems to focus in on what the Kingpin was doing in the game's world and thus led to him being arrested as we have seen in the trailers for the game thus far. This does not make things better in my eyes, but it does seem that it will just be extra fluff for those who want to opt-in for it. At least that is the hope after seeing the description a bit more. It just bothers me to think that the writers of it all had so much story and unless you choose to spend the extra time, you will miss out on things that seem like they could have been included in the game through various other means.

What do you think about this extra novel coming out to preclude the events of Spider-Man? Do you think it will be nothing but fluff for those fans who need it all or will there be scenes in the game that will only truly make sense with this extra story added in? Do you think that this should have all been handled with in-game elements or did Insomniac Games go down the correct path? Let us all know what you are thinking about this and more down in the comments. As we get more for Spider-Man though, we will have it all up on the site for you. Just keep coming back and checking in to be able to stay as up to date as possible.